National Museum brings out trail books for children

The books will be available at the ticket counters of the museum for Rs 25 each from next week.

To ensure that children accompanying parents and other adults to the National Museum are able to engage with history, the museum has launched a set of four trail books on varying subjects. The books list out major attractions in the galleries in the forms of “treasure hunts” alongside colour-coordinated clues.

The books will be available at the ticket counters of the museum for Rs 25 each from next week. The first book lists animals and birds in India art and gives clues to children to find terracotta and metal figurines in the gallery.

The second book titled Life in Harappan Civilisation gives a brief introduction of the various objects — utensils, figures of gods and goddesses, agricultural equipment — excavated from the Indus Valley period.

The third book, Finding Buddha, has various symbolisms associated with Lord Buddha at various stages of history, including the Mauryan and Gandhara periods.

The last book, Nine Rasas in Art, looks at sculptures, paintings and murals from various regions and periods.

Speaking to Newsline, National Museum’s Outreach Department official Jayati said the trail books were to ensure that children accompanying adults do not feel left out during the trip.

“The gallery interpretations currently are not meant for a young audience. In foreign countries too, museums usually have a lot of books, activity kits and trail features for children. So, we thought of emulating the model here too. Each book will take about 40-45 minutes for the children to complete and keep them engaged,” she said.

“We are getting in touch with other organisations on how to bring in more concepts which will involve children,” she said.